Though the incident occurred yesterday, police are yet to make any arrest.
Interestingly, a counter case was filed against the journalist N Nagarjuna Reddy under the SCs and STs (Prevention of Atrocities) Act by an ex-councillor within hours of the incident last night.
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Reddy, who sustained severe injuries in the attack, is undergoing treatment in a local hospital in Chirala.
"We have registered a case against Swamulu and his followers but no arrests have been made so far," Chirala One-Town Inspector of Police Venkateswara Rao said over phone.
Krishna Mohan was elected as an MLA as a lone candidate of Navodayam Party in 2014 and he subsequently became an "associate" of the ruling Telugu Desam Party.
Reddy reportedly wrote an article in the latest edition of a monthly magazine published from Guntur, about the "corrupt deeds" of the Chirala MLA.
Apparently angered by this, Swamulu waylaid the journalist and beat him up black and blue with a heavy stick.
The alleged incident happened in a full public glare and in the vicinity of the local police station in Chirala.
By the time police arrived, Swamulu and his henchmen had fled.
Reddy, who was bleeding, was then shifted to a private hospital for treatment.
Even as police registered a case against Swamulu and others for the assault, a counter case was filed against Reddy by an ex-councillor late in the night alleging he was abused by his caste name.
Accordingly, a case was filed against Reddy under the SCs and STs (PoA) Act, police said.
Further investigation is on.
Reddy was once a close associate of the Chirala MLA Mohan but later fell out with him.
In the article he published a couple of days ago, Reddy allegedly used abusive language against the MLA and his family members.
Infuriated over this, the MLA's brother Swamulu thrashed Reddy "as a warning".
"He used the most abusive language and we couldn't tolerate this. So he was beaten up as a warning," Mohan said in defence of his brother's action.